Should Vaccines Be Mandatory?

Being A Parent Is HARD

Can we all agree about that? I’m not talking about the daily stuff, like having to fish pajamas out of the toilet thanks to your toddler. I’m talking about the REALLY hard aspects of being a parent, like dealing with the pressure to vaccinate (or not) from family, friends, and the lady you passed in the parking lot.

This post is not about whether or not you should vaccinate, it’s about why that decision should be yours. Whether you’ll be the first to line up to get the next 200+ vaccines in the pipeline or none at all is not the issue. As parents, we must defend each other’s right to make that choice on a case-by-case basis. Here’s why:

To trust the science, we have to be able to trust the scientists

If you’re one of the many parents (vaccinating or not) having some trouble with that, I understand. The video below perfectly illustrates why trust has been eroded between healthcare consumers, healthcare providers, and research scientists.

(A quick note: Some of the content of this video is crass, but if you can get past that it is the best overall analysis I’ve seen on this subject. Please be aware of little ears when you click play.)

Now, I don’t hate doctors. I actually LOVE my children’s doctor and just called to make an appointment this morning. And when my husband got hurt on our farm this year, we opted for an MRI when chiropractic care didn’t seem to be enough. I am not anti-medicine or anti-doctor, but I am in favor of being an informed consumer. Because guys, there are obviously some problems with our current system. Just last year GlaxoSmithKline was fined $490M by China for systematically bribing doctors and hospitals to promote their products. Do we really think that stuff only happens in far away places?

As healthcare consumers and parents, we need to risk being “rude” and ask our care providers hard questions, like:

Do you receive gifts from the company whose medicine you just prescribed for my child?

How much time, roughly, have you spent independently researching the safety of the procedure you are recommending? (And are you aware that your medical education may not be as impartial as you’d thought? One review found that “Of Harvard’s 8,900 professors and lecturers, 1,600 admit that either they or a family member have had some kind of business link to drug companies — sometimes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — that could bias their teaching or research.”

What will happen if my child is injured by this vaccine? (You fill out a report, and hope the government agrees with your assessment and helps you care for your child. This process can take years.)

Can I sue if my child is injured or killed by vaccines? (No, pharmaceutical companies have immunity. You can fill out the report mentioned above, but the maximum payout is only $250,000 per child in the case of death. Pharmaceutical companies don’t pay that, the American public does. Every vaccine comes with a special tax that pays into a fund. Payments in excess of $250,000 are sometimes paid to families whose children need intensive or lifelong care, but many families are denied compensation. You will not have an opportunity to have the case tried before a jury of your peers.)

Has the U.S. ever conducted a study that compares the health of vaccinated and unvaccinated children? (No.)

How are vaccines tested for safety? (Because the position of pharmaceutical companies is that it is unethical to withhold a vaccine for the purpose of a trial, the safety of new vaccines is often tested by giving one group the new vaccine and one group an older version it is meant to replace. As a result, you don’t get a comparison of how many adverse effects occur when compared to a neutral placebo such as saline, but rather whether or not the new vaccine causes more reactions than the last one.)

Just as importantly, when pharmaceutical companies claim to have ”behaved responsibly, ethically and humanely,” we need to educate ourselves about what that might mean. Those were Bayer’s exact words to describe it’s actions when, back in the 80’s, it continued selling a plasma-based medicine for hemophiliacs even as evidence mounted that it was infecting patients with HIV.

Internal documents reveal that they had strong evidence that suggested AIDS transmission and yet they continued to tell the public that “AIDS has become the center of irrational response in many countries . . . This is of particular concern to us because of unsubstantiated speculations that this syndrome may be transmitted by certain blood products.” Then after they’d developed a safer product, they continued to make and sell the less safe version overseas. Why? Well, we can only speculate, but internal company documents reveal it was more profitable. Is that your definition of behaving responsibly, ethically and humanely?

As we talk about whether or not pharmaceutical products should or should not be mandated, we need to remember that least in some cases, the companies that make them have a history of putting profits above public interest. Parents should get to decide who they trust.

Whistleblowers Say Studies Have Been Manipulated

But that’s not the only reason some parents are concerned. We live in a world where Poul Thorsen, the CDC researcher who “dispelled the vaccine-autism link,” is listed as a most-wanted fugitive for wire fraud and money laundering. I believe we all ought to ask some questions about that.

And then there’s Dr. William Thompson, an active CDC senior scientist who recently said in a statement through his lawyers that he and his co-authors omitted “statistically significant information” in a 2004 study. The data suggested that “African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism.” (As a side note, the parents I have spoken with who have voiced concerns about vaccines are not specifically concerned with autism. They are concerned about a whole range of reported side effects, including serious allergic reactions, seizures, brain damage, Guillaine-Barre Syndrome and death.)

Of course, there are also the former Merck scientists-turned-whistleblowers, who claim that Merck “failed to disclose that its mumps vaccine was not as effective as Merck represented, (ii) used improper testing techniques, (iii) manipulated testing methodology, (iv) abandoned undesirable test results, (v) falsified test data” and the list goes on. (emphasis mine)

Is there good research out there? Yes, but each parent needs to decide for themselves which studies they consider trustworthy and which ones they don’t.

Mandatory Vaccination Is A Human Rights Violation

“Freedom doesn’t get much more personal than the right of individuals to choose what is put into their bodies, and to accept or reject medical procedures.”

To mandate vaccines is to require individuals to risk injury or death (both known adverse effects of vaccines) against their will, then deprive them of legal recourse if something goes wrong. It violates the American Medical Associations Code Of Ethics which requires informed consent, and it is opposed by both a large doctors association and several nurses associations.

And also, it’s just plain wrong. As one primary care physician put it, “Who wouldn’t love a business model with a captive market, no liability concerns, free advertising and promotion by government agencies, and a free enforcement mechanism from local schools? It is, truly, a drug company’s dream come true.”

Perhaps, but it’s a consumers nightmare.

But What About Protecting The Herd?

“I’m not going to make an argument about vaccine efficacy or the potential for unvaccinated people to put vaccinated people at risk (or vice versa). What I’m going to argue is that the ‘putting others at risk of death’ argument defeats itself based on statistical significance.

Most of the hysteria and current vaccine debate is in regards to the current measles ‘outbreak,’ so we’ll use that as an example.

The death rate among those infected is typically 0.2%, or close to equal that of your chances of dying in a car accident this year.

In other words, if you’re that concerned about people vaccinating to prevent death, you should be making an equally strong case that both of you have your driver’s licenses revoked.

Actually, it’s worse because you have a 0.2–0.5% chance of dying in a car *this year* and it’s almost certain that you actually drive a car. The 0.2% chance of death by measles requires that I (or my child) beat the ENORMOUS odds to even get measles in the first place.*

The same odds hold pretty steady for measles injury, except car injury wins out even more. And the chance of being killed or injured by the measles vaccine still surpasses the chance of being killed or injured by measles itself.

Again, I’m not arguing for or against vaccines, I’m arguing for sanity. If you believe that ‘you’re putting people at risk of death’ is a valid argument, then the injury/death by vaccine argument is equally (actually it’s moreso) valid, is it not?

So What Should We Do Instead Of Mandated Vaccines?

“1. The ethical thing to do is to allow people their right to refuse. Let doctors and big pharma – who has marketing budgets larger than the GDP of some countries – do a better job of convincing parents that vaccines are safe, protective and harmless.

2. Reverse the law that grants vaccine manufacturers total immunity from vaccine injury lawsuits.”

Now, I personally wouldn’t use the term “big pharma” because I think it’s unnecessarily inflammatory, but I think those are very good suggestions. There are two more I’d like to add:

Be Kind To One Another

We are all parents who love our children. Let us act like the adults we hope they’ll grow up to be.

Act Now To Preserve Your Rights As A Parent

I was going to sit this debate out, because honestly I’d rather crawl into a bathtub full of bugs than discuss this topic online. However, I felt I must say something to preserve my personal freedom as a parent, and to encourage you to preserve yours.

Right now legislation has been passed in California that would eliminate personal belief exemptions. Unless Governor Jerry Brown vetoes it, SB277 will soon become law.

Now, as a friend of mine said so well, you might be sitting at home, thinking “I would leave if I lived in California! I would not allow them to do this to me! Thank goodness I don’t live there!”

1) Religious Liberty and Parental Rights are guaranteed and protected by US Constitution. 2) Vaccination rates are high in California – this law adds no value but does strip parents of their constitutional rights

SELECT one or two talking points, if desired.

• SB277 only grants “medical exemptions” without regard to personal or religious objections. • SB277 violates our United States Constitution; First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Ninth Amendment, Tenth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment. • SB277 violates the California Constitutional right to public education. • SB277 is discriminatory against families who do not have the financial resources to homeschool their children or pay for legal representation. • SB277 does not prove compelling state interest. There is no health emergency.

• Among the 133 California measles cases 62% were in adults older than age 20. • FDA Approved vaccines have been recalled. • Vaccines are not without risk. • There are no long term studies on the effects of the multi-vaccine schedule. • Parental should be able to decide if they want their children to receive the annual flu vaccine and others. • Vaccine manufacturers are immune from liability.

• National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) has paid out $3.1 Billion dollars to families and children who have been injured and died from vaccines.

• The 133 Disneyland measles cases did not take place in a school and were not caused by exemptions. • California had increasing measles vaccine coverage and a 20% decrease in exemptions over the last 2 years. • The source came from overseas and did not spread into California’s population of 40 million. • There are up to several hundred US cases of measles annually since it was eradicated in 2000. This is neither unusual nor unexpected.

• Hepatitis B positive children have unrestricted school attendance and are afforded more rights in CA than healthy children who lack even one dose of one vaccine.

• The World Health Organization says US measles mortality is statistically insignificant. There have been zero deaths in over a decade.

ASK: Are you ready to take away the right to a public education in the absence of a public health emergency?

ASK: Are you ready to effectively remove the rights of parents to make decisions that honor individual religious conscience and affect the welfare and upbringing of their children?

Have A Comment? Read These Rules First!

I want this to be a safe place for every person who visits, regardless of your position, so comments that attack, call people “stupid” or “selfish” or otherwise derail the conversation will be deleted. It is healthy to disagree, but “when you resort to name calling, you’ve lost the argument.” ~ A. Watts

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About Heather

Hi, I'm Mommypotamus. My mission is to help you put delicious, healthy meals on the table, find effective natural remedies for common complaints, make your own fuss-free personal care and home products, and save time and money in the process.

Reader Interactions

237 Comments

Thank you so much for this article. With all of the debate about vaccinations, you have pointed out some valid points that often get overlooked by the hysteria and emotional appeal. I have consistently sought out pertinent information about why others might not vaccinate or what “evidence” they have and have usually been dismissed when, like all people, I simply want to make the best decision for myself and my family. This is the best explanation of why we should get to keep our right to choose and thank you for pointing me in a direction to find other resources in regards to this very hot topic.

I see this is the latest post informing about vaccines…I’m not very resourseful (I visit Mommypotamus first when researching natural health!) and am having trouble finding if my state has laws regarding vaccinations? I’ve stopped well-child visits a few years ago since they always want to force updated shots! When I first began to question, years earlier, the government health department couldn’t answer me about what’s mandatory. P.S. Public school policies don’t affect us. Thanks for any direction!

In every other industry in a capitalistic society, we can keep industry in check three ways: 1) we sue them when they harm us, 2) we boycott them when we don’t want to support them, 3) we pass laws regulating their activity.

With regard to vaccinations, the first way to keep the industry accountable is already gone. It went away in 1986.

The second way will go away if we make mandatory vaccinations the law of the land.

That will only leave the third way. Would we *really* trust leaving the accountability of a $24 BILLION industry up to a government that is so easily bought and sold by lobbyists?

If we lose the second means of accountability by making vaccines mandatory, then there is nothing in the way of our legislators passing laws requiring ALL of us to get HUNDREDS of vaccines for a myriad of health problems we may NEVER be at risk for.

Don’t get me wrong. I love modern medicine. I love that if I’m in a car accident, the ER peeps will put me back together and treat my acute injuries with revolutionary techniques, good sanitation, and drugs that will help me find relief from pain and ward off infection. I love that vaccines eradicated Polio and Tetanus. Truly AMAZING and so good when you think about it.

I just want accountability for vaccine makers, as I would in any industry.

That REQUIRES that 1) I can sue them for defective products, and 2) I can boycott them to vote with my pocketbook.

It REQUIRES that I fight for my neighbor’s freedom to CHOOSE which medical procedures they’ll undergo (including vaccinations), even if I disagree with the choices they make.

You bring up very good points about capitalism. I agree with almost everything you have said. However, I highly suggest researching why childhood tonsillectomies have been eradicated. I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with children falling ill and dying from polio after having their only defense (their tonsils) cut out. A cessation of routine tonsillectomies has saved us from polio, not vaccines.

that is really interesting to know! I have been trying to find a reliable source to share with my husband to prove that vaccines did not eradicate ANY disease. Can you share any links with me that might help?

This is PERFECT! Let’s stop judging each other for these very individual and personal decisions. Let’s agree that most parents are doing what they feel is BEST for their children. I decided to do a delayed vaccine schedule, with only one shot at a time. At 4 months my son had a severe reaction to the DTaP vaccine. If he had all the other shots he was supposed to that day we never would have known which one caused his reaction…turns out it was the P (whooping cough), so his doctor suggested that we not do that one again. Then at 2 years old he had an even worse reaction to the MMR vaccine. He went from being a very active and smart little boy to not being able to walk and just sitting and staring into space for almost a month. It made him very sick. Thank God he recovered (at least from what we can tell from the outside of his body). Now that he is in Kindergarten I am getting pressure from all sides (doctor, school, etc.) to get the second MMR shot. I simply will not do it, and I think my decision is quite valid. No two families are the same, no two children are the same. I have since found out through my own illness that I have MTHFR and other gene mutations that make detoxification a challenge. My son could have the same. (Here is some good info on that perspective: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2843136/)

Regardless, we can’t just take a gamble with injecting things like formaldehyde, and a hundred other things, under a baby’s/child’s skin. We all need to be willing to open up a conversation about doing things in a healthier, more contentious way. The way things currently are is just not okay, and forcing people to do something potentially harmful to their children is an absolute crime.

Sharon, thank you so much for sharing your experience. We have been leaning towards giving our 2 year old the MMR vaccine very soon (she has only had DTaP so far with no apparent side effects). I just learned that I have MTHFR mutations. Your story helped me decide to postpone MMR the vaccine as it is likely my daughter may also have this genetic detoxification defect. Thank you!!

Lauren, I am so glad my post helped you. It is so hard to know what to do, and of course every person/child is different, but once you inject you can’t turn back. People who don’t understand Immunogenetics, or have not experienced what I have, couldn’t possibly understand. I am tired of getting treated like a paranoid hippy parent. I just care too much about my child to do things blindly. I wish you the best on your parenting journey! XO, Sharon

I also have the MTHFR & a vaccine damaged son. My older, adult daughter has 2 children, and after seeing first hand the damage our family has suffered, refuses to have her children vaccinated. If we could have her kids screened for genetic predisposition to injury it would go a long way toward making a truly informed decision. Finding a doctor who will listen, much less co-operate in this endeavor has proven impossible. It is precisely this all-or-none, mandated-way or the-highway attitude which fuels this heated debate. Should push come to shove without much needed honest, independent research. We will simply move.

Barbara, have you found/do you believe the homeoprophylaxis to be effective? I am very interested in using this method for both myself (never vaccinated) and my 2 y.o. son (no vaccines, so far.) Do you have any resources or additional information to recommend?

Judy, I am so sorry to hear about your experience as well. What you wrote is so well put. I have said that I would move, too. I will not be forced to do something that I know is dangerous for my child. It all seems like a horror movie, or a nightmare, to even think about it. Hoping and praying for a conversation to open up about vaccines and for real changes to be made.

Now that your son has had a round of vaccines, or any initial vaccine, you do have the option to titer for the antibodies, which is a simple blood draw, ordered by your pediatrician or other physician. One of the reasons we have the multiple booster shots on the schedule is due to a small percentage of the population that the initial vaccine doesn’t “take.” There is no reason to continue with booster vaccines once immunity remains. This was explained to me by my son’s pediatrician as we believe he was affected by his vaccinations.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your posts are consistently calm, clear, informative and genuine. I can only imagine how much time goes into researching and writing a post that wrangles all of this information into something that is so easily readable and packed with information. Not to mention the excellent questions that are raised! Thank you, thank you. 🙂

Thank you so much for this post! I have been so sick to my stomach over this whole topic because it ALWAYS inevitably turns into name-calling and insults (as I saw yesterday even on your facebook page). It makes me fear for our country when people are so willing and ready to hand over their parental rights, not realizing that one day they will be grasping for those rights that have been stripped of them as well. This fear-mon getting over something as simple as the measles has got to stop!

Question: What about parents who refuse treatment for their children who have cancer believing in faith healing, etc? Do you believe these parents are within their rights or should they have their children taken away and given treatment?

Such as? I think Anne’s point was addressing the compounded issue of treatment/vaccination based on religious beliefs vs evidence based data. While that’s another subject, I read her intent as raising the question “where do we draw the line”, and didn’t deserve your initial reaction.

When the conventional cancer treatments are 100% effective and safe, this can be discussed. Otherwise, parents have the right to make healthcare decisions for their children. If parents are actively physically harming or neglecting their child, such as withholding air, nutrition, water, or shelter, it should be investigated by the authorities. Withholding pharmaceuticals that can have serious side effects, including death, is not in the same category.

Your question makes an unequal comparison. Should a healthy child receive a vaccine to prevent a potential (not current) infection. A child who is sick requires care and parents should be involved in the plan of care.

Yes, the parents are within their rights! We are not all in the same “tribe” we all do not believe in the same thing. Some religions would rather die then receive medical treatment and that is their right!!!!!!! Millions of babies are aborted each year but people have a problem with not vaccinating? If the gov wants to keep their citizens alive perhaps they should look at the processed food companies that lead to obesity after all that is the number one cause of preventable death.

We don’t all have the same beliefs; the best way to deal with that would seem to be not allowing people to force their beliefs on others. Refusing life-saving care (not talking about chemo here, but things like a blood transfusion) for someone who cannot communicate their own wishes is forcing your belief on someone else. If the child is old enough to make a choice and has chosen to follow their parent’s beliefs, that’s another story.

People who believe in faith healing have just as much right as we do to decide what is best. It is a very valid question though. It is hard to know where to draw the line but do we have to draw the line. I must accept that. I do not want anyone telling me what medical interventions to have for my family and I will not tell another family what I think is best for them.

What about parents who want unconventional treatment. If parents were forced to use what is prescribed Lorenzo oil would never be made. Faith healing is unconventional but so is cannabis oil and marijuana pills. Which I would like to add has been healing children of seizures. There is a video of a toddlers body shutting down from constant seizures the doctors as a last Hail Mary were about to perform some procedures for dogs when marijuana saved the day! If we make things mandatory we kill innovation. If you don’t know what Lorenzo’s oil is watch the movie and bring plenty of tissues your going to cry.

The answer is no, the government DOES NOT have the right to pull the strings on another human being’s choices for their body no matter what the excuses. Anyone who thinks it’s perfectly fine for the government to dictate other people’s bodies is mental. Anything else?

Thank you for a courageous and great post — a voice of calm and reason. Thanks for the research, too. The suggestions are perfect. Of course, the pharmaceuticals/research and development companies will say that the threat of lawsuits will slow/hinder new research and development, and it may — but I do not think that is such a bad deal and ultimately could save a lot of lives. I think a slower, more careful approach will result in far less waste as research and clinical trials will have to be well-thought out and planned. We are a seriously over-medicated society. Slowing the pipeline of pills being pushed at the average consumer just can’t be all bad.

It is important to note that we vaccinate the heck out of little children, and heavily medicate older adults — two very vulnerable populations — that we ought to be extra-vigilant about, as they often have others supervising their care.

Thank you for taking the time to write my thoughts out for me. And to cite your sources. I run from controversy, but also feel like I need to defend the attacks. I do not want to be clumped with the “anti-vaxx” movement, I don’t feel that I fall into the “going with the crowd” category. My family has made a very difficult, informed decision over the years and it is really hard to stick to our beliefs with all this hatred and yelling going on. I just wish people could be respectful of personal decisions. Thank you for this.

If your decisions are personal then why are you sharing them? You create your own controversy when you chose to share your choices and further open yourself to receive the opinions of others. I you don’t want to hear it then don’t share it. Period.

Really, Lori? Aren’t all decisions personal….ultimately? I’m so confused by your response to this woman. It’s completely off topic. Stick to the topic, please. Should our right to vaccinate or not remain in place or should all exemptions be taken away?

The problem with this post and comments is that anyone with opposing view is shot down. When putting it out there you must be prepared to hear all views. I think you are wrong in your opposition to vaccination and I truly hope common sense prevails on this issue.

This was the perfect response. It really doesn’t matter what you believe. We don’t know what the pharmaceutical world will look like in 5 years and I wouldn’t want my rights taken away as a parent to make a sound decision after I have done the research.

I am sure there is a lot of truth in what was stated and it was very well put. All I do know is that I am a living example of the damage measles can do to a human. When I was 8 years old, I came down with the measles. This is 1959. They did not have vaccinations for measles then. I lost almost all of my hearing. It can happen so why risk something of this nature happening to your precious children? I just don’t understand.

I am so sorry to hear that, Nancy. I think you’ve asked a valid question, and I’ll do my best to answer it. What parents tell me behind the scenes is that they understand there are risks on both sides, but they believe the risks of vaccinating against the measles are higher than actually catching measles.

In addition, they’ve learned that complications tend to be most severe if certain nutritional deficiencies are present, particularly Vitamin A. As a result, they make a concerted effort to emphasize the consumption of Vitamin A rich foods during the winter season, http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/189/Supplement_1/S4.full

Thanks for your reply. Sometimes I feel this situation is a generational one. My generation made sure our kids were vaccinated because we grew up with these childhood diseases. The younger generation has never experienced them and feel like it won’t happen to their children. I sincerely hope not, but definitely do not feel as confident about no vaccinations. I haven’t heard any percentages about complications from the measles like my particular problem of losing my hearing. You stated the info about deaths from measles and vaccinations but not the complications from measles. I guess since I did lose my hearing, I could never accept not getting a vaccination. I wouldn’t want the measles for any of your kids! But all of you parents do deserve all the information of what is in the vaccine.

Vaccines may have had some unintended consequences as well, including epigenetic changes. I just picked up a book recently called “Bad Medicine: Doctors Doing Harm Since Hippocrates.” It’s a scholarly look at how, throughout history, doctors have often done more harm than good without realizing it. According to the author, we finally reached an age of “evidence-based practice” in the last 100 years. I’m not sure I agree, but I think we are moving that direction. Hopefully with more open and respectful dialogue we can continue on that path.

Nancy, your kids likely got their vaccines in the 70’s or 80’s. (I got them in the 80’s.) The amount kids receive now have quintupled since then. They receive 3-6 injections, per visit, with most being more dangerous combination shots (no more measles shot, it’s the MMR). Kids now get a multitude of shots at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 2 years, 4 years, and 11 years. The schedule is bloated, dangerous, and frankly unregulated. My mom (born in the 50’s) had the same mindset until she saw what they get now.

Hi Nancy, I’m sorry to read about your hearing loss after having the measles. My husband and his sister received the MMR on the same day (she was 5 years old, my husband was 3 years old). About two weeks later, they both lost their hearing. They are ages 33 and 30 now, respectively, and both have sever to profound hearing loss. Without their hearing aids, they are deaf. I looked and looked and looked for information regarding the MMR and hearing loss but was basically unsuccessful. My children will never receive the MMR because of this.

The MMR contains live measles virus. The objective is to create a mild case of measles in children, so they will develop immunity. So, children develop a stronger case of the measles as a result of the vaccine itself. So, there is a possibility that the deafness of your siblings was actually cased by the live measles virus in the vaccine.

My first child was born in 83 and the last one in 94. And I do acknowledge there were far more vaccines in 94 than in 83. But we had them all with no ill effects. As for myself, the only vaccines I had as a child in the fifties was the polio and the tb. So I have many sympathies for the persons who lost their hearing with the family believing that came from the vaccines. I have no idea except that wasn’t my case. My case was the mere fact that I had the measles and no vaccine. I also have a severe and profound hearing loss and am deaf without a hearing aid. I again thank you very much for the discussion, but I still can’t agree with your choices. I hope and pray for good health for all your children.

A more valid statistic to compare might be the number of deaths from measles before measles vaccination was routine. I am not necessarily ‘pro-vaccine’, and I definitely agree that vaccination should not be mandatory, but to compare current deaths from measles (when there is significant ‘herd immunity’, i.e. not very many people in the US get measles) with current deaths from measles vaccines (which a very large percentage of the population receives) is sort of comparing apples with oranges

From my understanding the complications from measles (when they occur in the developed world, where we have adequate nutrition and good hygiene) often occur when the body’s natural ability to eliminate toxins through the skin (rash) and through heat (higher temperature) is thwarted by the use of medications to suppress the rash or lower the temperature. In addition, the patient is often fed high sugar foods at a time when the liver is also in the process of dealing with toxins, thus adding to the liver’s burden, possibly to the point of overload. Add to this the oft-used antibiotics which kill off the beneficial bacteria which are the mainstay of the immune system. In other words, if instead of medical treatment, the body was allowed to recover naturally, with plenty of rest and pure water, as well as minimal food (or none) then the whole experience would actually do what nature intended: clear toxins accumulated through everyday life, strengthen the immune system and give lifetime immunity from the disease (dis – ease – uncomfortable but not to be feared). All the childhood diseases do just that and if allowed their natural course, result in better than ever health afterwards, often manifesting in a growth spurt. In other words it is actually the medical interference with the body’s natural immune response which causes the complications. Of course this may be different where there is not adequate nutrition and access to clean water, as in some developing countries. There, the response should be to provide these before rushing in with toxic medicines/vaccines which only add to the liver’s load in dealing with the illness and further weaken the immune system.

I must say that this is one of the more civil debates I’ve seen in a long time regarding the hot topic of vaccines.

With that said however, I must as that vaccines are not “safe and effective” as the MSM seems to keep repeating. Off the top of my head I can think of 5 reasons:

1. Vaccines can and do cause permanent damage for a portion of the population. 2. Quite often the vaccines cause the very diseases they are meant to prevent. 3. Vaccines go through a shedding period where the recently vaccinated person can infect others. 4. Vaccine induced herd immunity is a myth.* 5. Outbreaks happen in heavily vaccinated communities.

*The argument for herd immunity breaks down as follows: Since vaccines in general don’t have lifetime efficacy it means most adults are basically un-vaccinated. If you argue this fact then you must ask the obvious question of why they are now introducing mandatory adult vaccines (other than the flu).: HR 2232

Thank you for approaching this volatile subject in a rational way. I personally vaccinated my children and most of my daughters have vaccinated theirs, however my youngest daughter has decided to delay with her children due to some health issues. I believe it would be wrong to take away the right parents have to decide what is best for their children. Most parents have nothing but the utmost regard for the health of their offspring. I realize there are some parents that are irresponsible, but most that decide not to vaccinate have struggled with that decision, after doing much research. Intact, they have most likely done much for investigation than those that do vaccinate. At any rate, it is not the place of the state to interfere in that process.

Thanks for this Heather! Perhaps I’m slow, but in clicking the link to check to see how my state is being (of hopefully is not being affected) by this proposal, I didn’t find the list. Do I need to login or register to access it? Thanks again for this post!

Hi Lindsay, when you click through you should be able to scroll down and see two categories: Action Needed Now and Bills To Watch. All proposed legislation is broken down by state, so you will find relevant info by looking in the column on the far left.

Thank you for sharing your insightful opinions on this matter. I am so tired of the anger that is going around the past couple of weeks. You hit the nail on the head about this whole issue! And the scary part is the 200+ vaccines coming down the pipeline. It is getting absurd. I choose to vaccinate my daughter, except for flu. But I am very much against mandatory vaccines. Our freedoms are very, very clearly at stake here.

Thank you so much for weighing in – I was hoping you would, but secretly wanted you to throw down the gauntlet 🙂 the main thing I want folks who are really angry at those who chose another approach to keeping their family healthy to appreciate is that no two people are alike and for that reason alone it would be ridiculous to make vaccines mandatory. I think it’s great that so many pp see no risk and their kids haven’t reacted at all and are perfectly healthy. High five to you. But plain and simple it just is not that way for everyone and it’s really ridiculous to think that it is. There also seems to be a lot of mis-information (or Missing information?) about the outbreak itself. For example, is the strain even wild measles? Or is it atypical measles (which is the kind that can be caused by receiving the vaccine)? The only case that’s been mentioned here in MD is a case of atypical measles which occurred in a toddler a few days after receiving the vaccine.

Heather, I really appreciated this post. Just a friendly suggestion from a campaign strategist. Use framing language that calls it like it is, what the media and public health officials are pushing for is compulsory vaccination. The erosion of trust you refer to is the crisis of authority. http://salon.com/2015/02/07/anti_vaxxers_climate_deniers_and_the_crisis_of_authority/ PM me if you want to talk about why I suggest this.

I think there is a big difference between mandating vaccines and simply not allowing unvaccinated people to go to public schools by eliminating exemptions. You don’t have to get vaccinated, you just have to understand that if you make that choice, the consequences are that you will not be able to go to public school. One thing about the non-vaxxing movement that irks me…we don’t live in bubbles…our decisions definitely affect others…I want you to be able to do what you choose to do as a parent, that is your right, but your decision affects me, so I need some consideration too. I say vax or not vax, but understand that if you don’t vax, you may be limited to private or homeschool because of public health.

“I want you to be able to do what you choose to do as a parent, that is your right, but your decision affects me, so I need some consideration too.”

That is SO true. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been denied food because, by golly, someone in the room was vaccinated and is now deathly allergic to *everything*. Let me tell you, it makes flights so miserable. If non-vax children should be required to be homeschooled (and I agree, they should!), then people with vaccine-related allergies should stay off the airlines and only be homeschooled as well. It’s only fair, right?

Am I missing something? How am I, if I chose not to vaccinate my child, placing your vaccinated child at risk? All people who choose not to vaccinate their children are, presumably aware of the risk that their child might contract the disease in question — so all the kids at risk in public schools would be at risk because of an informed decision. I meaning to be rude. Just honestly asking because I don’t get the concern.

What if everyone had that attitude? No one would be vaccinated & these diseases would become widespread. How is it ok for you not to vaccinate your children & expose them to other people’s children? There are also the cases of some sick children or those too young to vaccinate.

In order to believe that there should be no choice whether a parent vaccinates their children, you have to accept that vaccines are the reason for reducing the incidence of these diseases. You also have to believe that vaccines cause no problems for anyone (and this simply does not apply to anything in our lives). Many of us believe that improved nutrition, living conditions, hygiene, clean water and sanitation are the real reasons these diseases have nearly disappeared. Also, you are asking some parents to sacrifice their children for “the greater good”. And it’s more and more children being sacrificed as more vaccines are added. If vaccines did not contain toxic additives, there would be much less resistance to them.

The science and support for breastfeeding far outweighs that behind vaccines. Should babies who are not breastfed not be allowed in daycare centers? Not breastfeeding affects health for the rest of a person’s life, not just while nursing, so should those children be limited to private or homeschool, too? After all, it’s a public health issue.

The most frustrating thing about the vaccine “debate” is every woman’s need to be validated in her decision to vaccinate/not vaccinate. Americans seem extremely paranoid about everyone agreeing with them about decisions that they make in their own homes. From gay marriage to vaccinations, everyone needs to have an army of people agreeing with them to be confident in their decisions.

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the US who doesn’t refer to parenting as “SO HARD.” When they’re babies and they need you 24 hours a day, yeah, that can be stressful, but it’s not “hard.” It can be tedious as hell, but it’s not “hard.” Parenting is simply a job, just like anything else. Just like any other job, you shouldn’t be doing it if you can’t figure out the ropes pretty quickly. You are (hopefully) an intelligent human being capable of being presented with information and making a decision, then being confident in that decision. You do right by another human being: feeding, clothing, ushering, molding, building. Maybe I’m some kind of superparent, but I just don’t find it “hard” to do right by my children. They’re human beings. They have needs and I fill them. That’s what I signed up for. If I thought it was so earth-shatteringly difficult, I sure wouldn’t have volunteered for the job (several times over).

I’m just really, really tired of the “This is SO HARD, don’t ever judge anyone else and always be ‘KIND’ to everyone! Whatever decision you make is right for your family!” Since when is every woman some kind of genius by virtue of having pushed a baby out of her vagina? No, every decision you make is NOT correct because you gave birth. Now, there are some choices that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but there are some that definitely do. Once you have children, the most important thing in life is making sure that you do a dang good job raising them, arming yourself with everything you can get your hands on and making the best, most educated and logical decisions and moving on. You hope you made the right ones, and maybe you will find out one day that you did. Maybe you won’t. You get off Facebook, stop reading pandering blogs about everyone holding hands around a fire, stop obsessing over the opinion you overheard in the checkout line at Target yesterday, stop arguing with friends whom you know do not share your sentiments, stop expecting everyone to agree with you; get focused on raising healthy, active, responsible, loving, genuine, and conscientious children.

Tell the lady in the parking lot at Target to screw off with her opinion. Be solid, be confident, and push. Maybe parenting wouldn’t be so “hard” if you didn’t need your every decision to be validated.

I don’t know, Amanda. When my husband went in for an MRI recently the doctor prescribed a medication for him that is not appropriate given the fact that he has a particular genetic mutation. I informed the doctor of the mutation and suggested a natural alternative that is backed by peer-reviewed research. The doctor gave me one of those looks that says, “Have you been consulting Dr. Google again?” I wasn’t put off at all. In situations like that I am comfortable saying that I don’t expect them to keep abreast of all the changes in happening right now in the field of epigenetics, but I have made a point to learn about the ones that apply to me and I can wait if they’d like to look it up.

I don’t feel a particular need for validation, and yet I do feel that parenting is very hard. Not because I feel judged (usually), but because I feel the weight of responsibility to do the best I can for my family.

I think “hard” depends on what type of person you are. I have found parenting particularly difficult, because I am a “highly sensitive person.” Everything that happens to/for my child is x100 for me, because my heart and soul reside in him. It is impossible for me to take my “job” as a parent lightly. Issues or tasks that may seem like “no brainers” to some take a lot of thought and consideration for others.

I am a physician (former epidemiologist, I worked in the Public Health system) and a mom and I feel the same way as Suzanne Humphries MD. Physicians are not really told about everything in regards of vaccines and they are told to follow health authorities guidelines. I haven’t read Suzanne Humphries book but I am planning to read it. I recommend the book “What your doctor may not tell you about Children’s Vaccinations” by Stephanie Cave MD. Besides these two real doctors there are other real doctors (and I am saying “real” cause I just saw this video from the comedian Jimmy Kimmil making fun of parents that choose not vaccinate their children) that think different about the use of vaccinations. Medical doctors that take some time in their busy lives to do their own research. As parents we should do the same and just not believe blindly to the health authorities. Here is a video that will explain that actually the vaccinated (yes the vaccinated) people could actually be more the risk to the “herd” than the unvaccinated people. It is a lecture on vaccines and health by Dr. Suzanne Humphries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFQQOv-Oi6U (First part but you can make the follow up of the next videos in youtube). So sad, that when a medical doctor thinks different than the majority and dare to “challenge” the health authorities it becomes a “quack”. Truth is not always taken easily. Remember that some years ago, they wouldn’t think that smoking was a cause of cancer, and yet there are still so many things that we don’t really know. It is also a good point these one that others have mentioned: If they are so sure about the efficacy of the vaccinated why are they afraid of being exposed to the unvaccinated persons? I also highly recommend this other video that talks about, food, GMO and vaccines. I think it is free to watch onlin until tomorrow. http://www.boughtmovie.net/free-viewing/ . I apologize about my English, since it is not my first language.

Thank you for broaching this very controversial subject. The best thing any parent can do is to combine research and their own gut feelings and do what they feel is best for their child, when they feel okay doing it. We cannot allow laws to be put in place to take away that freedom, whatever our current stance may be on the topic of vaccination. We all need to stop letting fear control us and know the facts.

No! They most definitely should not be! How many things are we going to have the government mandate before we don’t have ANY freedoms or choices, not only with our own children, but also just in general, anymore!?!? The information concerning the dangers of vaccinations is undeniable!

I could go on and on about the dangers and damage they have caused, but I’ll keep it semi short and just say that there is not a single case of autism in unvaccinated Amish. Seriously, look it up! I would rather chance my kids catch and have measles for a weak then potentially have an autistic child for life.

Lastly, the vaccine industry is basically a huge money market. The Hep B vaccine for example.. do you know how you get Hep B? unprotected sex and dirty needles. They are giving our children 4 doses of that vaccine before the age of 2. The first one being before they even leave the hospital. Why would you want your sensitive new babies system injected with that crap?! If you’re worried about your baby having sex and using dirty needles, than you’ve got bigger issues! Even if you do decide to get your child vaccinated for Hep B, wouldn’t you think that’s something better given if their teens? It’s all just rediculous…

For me the issue is choice. I believe one of the liberties we are entitled to is the right to make medical decisions for ourselves and our children. Have you been following the Rinat Dray case at all? She was forced to have a c-section. Stories like that make me sick, along with the thought of mandatory vaccinations. I can’t stand that there are people out there who think they have my children’s best interests at heart more than I do.

What a well-written post! Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together! I deeply appreciate your efforts, especially since I know you have family and children who need your time as well. I’m going to be referring people (and myself) to this blog post often in the future.

My only real complaint against the anti-vaccine crowd are the ones who claim to have researched vaccines but then pull out the ‘besides, if you are vaccinated why do you care? Aren’t you protected?’ line. All I ask, is that if people are going to make decisions that DO affect more people than just themselves, that they ACTUALLY do the research. And when you are talking about vaccines that means understanding how vaccines work. I personally am kinda curious to see where this whole thing goes because although there may not have been any measles deaths since 2005, there certainly were in the past! And it was more than 68. It’ll be interesting to see if, in the future, people start dying from things like measles and polio again.

Ruth, that line is often said by parents who opt out of vaccines for their children because quite a large number of those who fully trust in vaccines *do* tend to communicate an implicit trust that the vaccine is 100% protective against various illnesses. Heck, there are doctors that refuse to diagnose a child with whooping cough if they’ve been vaccinated for it, because it’s not conceivable to them that the child would contract it. They call it bronchitis! And, there are just as many, if not more, people who do NO research and falsely believe that there remains no risk for their children catching the illnesses if they have received shots.

Are you aware that measles deaths largely occur in malnourished, impoverished children? I’m not sure it would be “interesting” to see the health of children decline so much that a regular illness like measles becomes deadly. We are blessed that our country is as wealthy as it is to avoid the setting for measles to be deadly – rather, it’s a mere nuisance in most cases. I personally don’t make health decisions in raising my children in the US, based on what happens on the other side of the world and in civilizations vastly different than ours.

Very well said! I’m in California, where the government is definitely going to try to take away our right of informed consent with regards to vaccines. I don’t care whether people vaccinate, don’t vaccinate, or fall somewhere in the middle. The thought of losing the right to make my own decisions regarding vaccines for my son is deeply disturbing. I’m in the process of composing a letter that I will be sending to my legislators, my governor, and probably my senators and house representatives too, just for good measure.

Holly, I also have been horrified recently by CA government encroachments on parents’ right! Would you mind sharing the letter? I would like to send it, too! And, if you wish, I would be happy to share it with other like-minded parents 🙂

I think this is an excellent way of advocating for having a say in what we want or do not want to happen with our bodies. I believe that each individual should be given a choice to analyze evidence and make clear decisions. Thank you for a very well written article.

I like how you’re very self-confident and the post is so reasonable and I just love that you respect parents’ rights to make their own decision.

I think I have read every post about vaccines from every blog I currently follow + what ever research I just stumble on, from both sides.. it’s happening more often than you’d think for a girl who has no children..and it’s literally freaking me out, that I have absolutely no idea what I would do. I haven’t particularly researched the subject myself, as I have had no reason to do that yet.. but I do read a lot, because it’s an interesting (and important subject).. And.. well you know.. I’m probably facing the decision in a year or two. I just have no words of how terrified am even now. I just don’t know what I would do, I have no idea what’s right and what’s wrong. This is scary!

I am happy to read all of this before pregnancy, though:D I hope to figure out what’s best for us in the planning stage of pregnancy, so I wouldn’t be stressed out about it for 9 months.

Laura, I am in the same position as you.. no kids yet, but probably will in a couple years and am so interested in this important discussion. I just want to encourage you not to be scared or freaked out by this decision. Obviously you have time to do some research and make a fully informed decision before the time comes, but no matter what, you don’t want to be in the position of making a decision out of fear. Its clear, since you’re already involved in the discussion, that you care enough to find out what the best option will be for your family. It may be a difficult one, but you won’t be making a fear-based decision. Ultimately you will do what is most responsible, reasonable and loving for you and your babes 🙂 I hope this encourages you!

Hi Meg!:) Thank you so much! It does encourage me.. it’s a good point, I have time to know what I feel is the best, but it’s not the most common practise to NOT vaccinate where I live.. It’s going to be a very-very hard (but hopefully well-informed on both sides) decision. Trying not to freak out here. I wish we could talk in a couple of years and see what either one of us decided:)

This article is extremely socially irresponsible. I have a Ph.D. in health psychology, and really appreciate that you are informed by research, and you are clearly highly intelligent. What you failed to do is conduct your research on measles and the vaccine using a broad perspective, one informed by the current versus previous rates of vaccination and the respective statistics. You also fail to use your high level of intelligence to predict the path that we as a society will head down should many parents choose not to vaccinate their children (as is already beginning to happen). According to the World Health Organization, “Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children… In 2013, there were 145,700 measles deaths globally – about 400 deaths every day or 16 deaths every hour. Measles vaccination resulted in a 75% drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2013 worldwide… During 2000-2013, measles vaccination prevented an estimated 15.6 million deaths… Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. In 1980, before widespread vaccination, measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.” The only reason you can sit there and say that a child in the US is more likely to die from the vaccine than from measles itself is because that same vaccine is so effective in eradicating this deadly disease. Why must you even specify “in the US?” Because of vaccinations! If measles were not highly contagious and deadly no such specification would be warranted. In fact, parents who choose not to vaccinate based on the fact that their child(ren) is/are more likely to die from the vaccine than from measles itself only have the luxury of making that decision (based on that fact) because millions of parents from previous generations and within their own cohort took that very same risk and chose to vaccinate for the safety of their child(ren) and the safety of all children. Isn’t it nice that this luxury (which you call a right) is given to others because we who vaccinate are willing to take that risk? And isn’t it incredibly sad that so many are taking advantage of this, and are reversing the trend so that others in the future, especially those who have children with conditions that predispose them to be more likely to have adverse reactions, won’t be able to say their children are more likely to die of the vaccine than of measles (because measles will be returning with a vengeance)? The above statistics clearly demonstrate that in countries where the vaccine is not as prevalently used there are are still thousands of deaths each year. It is so irresponsible for you to not acknowledge that if everyone, or even a significant proportion of the population, chose not to vaccinate then millions of children would die, unequivocally so. You cannot make a valid case that that isn’t true. Millions. What do you have to say about that? Don’t you think that is relevant? Don’t you think you should consider the repercussions of this “right to choose to not vaccinate”, especially across future generations? Shouldn’t that be a part of this article? You write this as if all that matters is today, and how each parent feels about their individual child(ren). What about social responsibility? Don’t you think you are doing parents and society at large a huge disservice by essentially justifying a stance that could literally lead to the deaths of millions? So very, very irresponsible of you.

Hi Serenity, I would argue that promoting forced vaccination that violates both the American Medical Associations Code of Ethics and the Nuremberg Code is socially irresponsible. Once we start violating informed consent on the basis of “the greater good” where does it end? The United Arab Emirates just enacted a law that forces all mothers to breastfeed their children until they turn two because it’s for the “greater good.” I am shocked by that, and yet it’s not all that surprising when one considers that personal rights are not upheld equally around the world.

The reason I specified measles cases in the U.S. is because it is well known that malnourishment – particularly Vitamin A deficiency – significantly increases complications and deaths from measles. The statistics you refer most often occur in regions where profound poverty contributes to Vitamin A deficiency. Conversely, adequate Vitamin A status has been shown to drastically reduce the severity of the illness and the likelihood of complications.

Finally, I will say that according to “According to the CDC, prior to the introduction of the vaccine, measles was a nearly universal infection occurring most commonly in 5-9 year olds with 90% of U.S. children immune by age 15. Most kids recovered fully within a few weeks with life-long immunity. Reported complications from data collected between 1985-1992 included pneumonia (6%), encephalitis (.1%), seizures (.6-.7%), and death (.2%). These occurred most frequently in children under 5 and adults over 20. These complications may, in fact, have been exacerbated by allopathic interventions to treat common symptoms such as fever reduction using antipyretics.” (source) Currently, the mortality rate of the common flu and pneumonia (which are tracked together) is about 8.5%.

You raise some good points. It may be irresponsible to mandate vaccinations in certain ways, but people wouldn’t be considering that as a valid option if there weren’t such a drastic trend currently to choose not to vaccinate. If there were equally effective vaccines for pneumonia and the common flu that would be an amazing blessing and the wise decision would be for parents to take advantage of that and have ther child(ren) vaccinated. Not appreciating that we have one for measles is just sad. I still think it is irresponsible to not include a discussion of the consequences of choosing not to vaccinate. Regardless, I appreciate you posting my comment and taking the time to respond.

I grew up in the early 1970’s when measles was not a big deal due to strong health standards compared to earlier in the century, but before the vaccination was widespread. Here is an example of the culture I am used to surrounding measles and chicken pox. It was a no big deal kind of thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDb0ZS3vB9g The hysteria surrounding it today in the USA makes no sense for a developed country.

2.6 millions deaths each year was no big deal?? No big deal, just millions of children dying, that’s all. If that’s how you feel, are childhood cancers, car accidents, and AIDS also no big deal? Should we only be concerned about deaths in the US? Kids dying in other countries are no big deal? What are you implying??

Serenity, I’m from the generation before the vaccine for measles was even invented. We expected to get, and recover from, measles, mumps, chicken pox, and rubella. No one at the time referred to these illnesses as “deadly.” The statistics you cite are world-wide, which include huge parts of the world where in modern times people have been malnourished, and — I haven’t encountered anyone taking this into consideration — may not have a history of these diseases in their cultures. That lack of history and immunity might be the reason that measles is deadly in other parts of the world, as common diseases of Europeans devastated the indigenous American peoples after Columbus.

I think it is very important for individuals to have the freedom of choice in any matter of health care, for themselves and their children. While there may be instances where I would be OK with the parents being overruled in such a decision, vaccination is not such a case. While being infected with a disease such as measles carries some risk of complications, as Nancy pointed out above, there are also risks of complications and death from the vaccines themselves. Do we surrender to the authorities our right to weigh these risks for ourselves and our children? Or do we accept our responsibility to make the best choices we can/

Thanks for posting this. And thanks for including some references to articles from “mainstream” media. I think some people easily discredit a source if they don’t recognize the name. Well written. I really appreciate what you do.

The Weston A. Price Foundation, and by extension, Nourishing Our Children, is opposed to mandatory vaccinations. What we put into our bodies and our children’s bodies is a choice I don’t want taken from any one of us. Just as I want all of us to be free to choose to nourish our children with raw milk, I want all of us to be free to choose whether or not to vaccinate. Thanks for this post! Your article received a lot of support in our community!

Finally something I feel I can share with people on both sides. It IS about open dialogue because none of this is easy. Parenting is hard, and we are all trying to do the best we can with what we have. I wish for a minute we could take a second and see that. The judgements and hurtful comments I have seen thrown around lately are causing so much hate and division. What happened to talking through these hard issues and really listening to a person’s heart and where they are coming from regardless of what ‘side’ you are on. Thank you for bringing a bit of humanity back to this issue.

Thank you Heather for having the courage to write this blog. I was a parent who never questioned vaccination and was pro-vaccine until my first child had a seizure at age 1 about 6 hours after her scheduled vaccination and was then plagued by a horrible fever and vomiting that lasted 2 days. I was terrified but luckily she was OK. She was not a robust baby (I couldn’t breastfeed) and she had terrible colic. I really believe now that she was not a good candidate for vaccines – her immune system was not strong enough to cope with the toxins. Although I was brought up to be pro-vaccine and had them myself as a child – I just could not go through with any more vaccinations for her. In the following years she also developed ADHD and an anaphylactic cashew allergy. Luckily I found the GAPS grain-free diet and Weston Price (and filled her with bone-broth and immune boosting foods and completely healed her ADHD (yay!). But I really believe things would have gotten far worse for her if I had continued with her vaccination schedule . I have also begun reading that the vaccines contain binding agents made from peanuts or cashews depending on the vaccine batch and this is a possible reason for the sudden explosion in nut allergies. That perhaps injecting a foreign protein into the bloodstream can create a life-threatening allergy to that protein? If this is true it’s terribly sad. In spite of my experiences I still absolutely respect my neighbour’s right to give their kids the vaccines if they wish to. And yes many children’s immune systems can cope with the toxins – but I think so many cannot. By the way, my 4 year old has never had a vaccine – and we realised the other day that she has never been to a doctor in her whole life because she has never been sick. Yes we do go to doctors sometimes ourselves – but it does make me wonder if real food and an absence of pharma is why she is so incredibly healthy. I’ve done a complete turnaround on the vaccine debate and I don’t think vaccines are for everyone.

Hmmm. I posted a well-reasoned disagreeing comment last night prior to some of the comments that have already been posted, and it appears to have been censored out. Saying this article is socially irresponsible of you is not name calling. You are simply practicing censorship. Can you explain why my comment was not posted?

Hi Serenity, first-time comments are held in moderation so that spam doesn’t slip through. Though I do my best to approve them in a timely manner, there is often a delay if a comment is posted overnight because I need to wake up, make breakfast for my family, nurse the baby and get our morning homeschool going before I check in. Thank you for understanding.

With all due respect, this decision is not like giving your baby raw milk. This decision affects other individuals around you and indeed it effects your children before they are able to form choices. We have all kinds of reaearch about the efficacy of vaccine done by many peer reviewed articles. We have all kinds of research that show that vaccines are not linked to other harmful health effects. Moreover, the very reason the rate of catching measles is so low is because we have vaccinated for it. This decision has in effext been protected by the decision if others to have their children vaccinated. Now you may be right and one day we find something that we have not seen. We may also find out that motrin causes arthritis or battle water causes rotten teeth. Who knows? But right now all of our best science says vaccinating your child is the best thing for your child and the best thing for other people’s children. Moreover not vaccinating your child is dangerous for other children. Individual choice is never just about your individual choice. Thus, unless you plan to go live a hermit life, i think we have to start closing exemptions for vaccinations.

YES. I don’t think vaccination should be mandatory but people who don’t vaccinate their kids need to keep them out of the public. Schools should not allow exemptions except for serious medical issues or egg allergy. They are sponging off herd immunity that other (more generous) parents have created for them, and putting medically fragile people and babies at risk. This also reminds of some academic studies regarding ‘risk society’ and how privileged Americans have become so afraid to take any risks that they live in fear of absolutely everything. A world full of rampant illnesses that are preventable is actually more scary to me than a shot. A lot of countries in Africa where measles are rampant would love to have more access to vaccines.

If one is convinced by the argument that nutritional deficiencies cause vaccines to harm children (damage gut flora, etc), what would you recommend feeding a child in preparation for the MMR? Is there any advice on making sure a 12-18 mo old is nutritionally prepared to handle the viruses in the vaccine, and the other ingredients that are used? My daughter is 9 mos and I plan to have her receive the vaccine. She barely eats table food, though, and is breastfed (never had formula). I am wondering if there is any science behind feeding her certain things to try to mitigate any negative reactions.

Bone broth, gelatin, probiotics, are great for sealing the gut and avoid processed food and sugars. The gaps book is a great read for helping understand the immune system, and what you can do to strengthen it.

Thank you so much! More truth. It has nothing to do with Jenny McCarthy. It isn’t “just” autism. Vaccine companies are legally allowed to NOT DISCLOSE risks of vaccines! How does this NOT concern anyone else? I’m not an untrusting person… but profits matter.

For your first point, you can research any physician and any payments they’ve received (and more importantly reported) from pharma companies and for what purpose here: https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/

It’s not a perfect system, but it’s a start and you can see if Dr. X is in Merck’s backpocket or not. Great article that was non-judgemental about vaccine choices!

Thank you for posting this! I was recently speaking to other moms about this subject and the current “epidemic” of measles going around. And my response was, if your children are vaccinated and you trust the vaccine to work like you were told it would. Why are you so worried. I can only wonder how many of the individuals that have recently come down with measles were vaccinated. And why,why, why do some people automatically blame all the unvaccinated people and not the vaccines they were given and told would keep them safe?

Arlene, I’ve been wondering that too. My family all got whooping cough (right after my youngest was injured by a vaccine), all fully vaccinated for it, in 2012, so I’ve become skeptical of outbreaks being blamed on “those anti-vaxxers.”

The CDC just published an early official report of the Disney measles outbreak, which says they haven’t yet identified the source but they know that 28 of the 110 infected people were intentionally unvaccinated… “Among the 110 California patients, 49 (45%) were unvaccinated; five (5%) had 1 dose of measles-containing vaccine, seven (6%) had 2 doses, one (1%) had 3 doses, 47 (43%) had unknown or undocumented vaccination status, and one (1%) had immunoglobulin G seropositivity documented, which indicates prior vaccination or measles infection at an undetermined time. Twelve of the unvaccinated patients were infants too young to be vaccinated. Among the 37 remaining vaccine-eligible patients, 28 (67%) were intentionally unvaccinated because of personal beliefs, and one was on an alternative plan for vaccination.” (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm64e0213a1.htm)

This is a great article! It’s a breath of fresh air to have logic and good sources on the topic.

That’s untrue. If your child is not vaccinated, and around say a newborn who is too young to be vaccinated, they are at risk. An outbreak could result. And the argument that as a responsible parent you wouldn’t take your child out doesn’t work either. Many of these diseases are contagious before one has any symptoms. So say someone takes their child to a birthday party where there is/are children too young or sick to be vaccinated, they, and therefore others are at risk.

Thank you so much for this post . . . I love reading things like this because sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one who thinks this! Of course I usually feel that way after listening to the news lol. And I love the way you respond when people challenge you. You are truly a blessing to learn from!

Wonderful article full of excellent observations and points. I do wonder about the parents rights amendment to the constitution. What I wonder is if we had had that amendment back in the 1800s would we have been able to get free public schools off the ground and a majority of American kids into them. You can argue about the date because education in America was a long and windy road. But we did get it, it was available to everyone, and for a very long time it was the backbone of an educated electorate.

Thank you Heather for this article. My family thought I was crazy when I decided not the vaccinate my kids. With my first child, being a new mom, I was unsure of how much control I had over her medical treatment. Can you believe that! When we went in for our first set of vaccines and I asked what was in them, the folks at the injection clinic told me what the vaccines were for. And I repeated, yes, but what is in them??? They actually looked at me with confusion and astonishment when I picked my daughter up and walked out. That began all my research into maintaining a healthy lifestyle and feeding my kids nourishing meals. I think we should be given a choice and if we choose to vaccinate there should be safeguards put in place to protect our children, and right now, there are none. The quality of products administered to our children should be our choice. Whether it is vaccines or prescription medicine.

You can google the ingredients by entering “vaccine package insert” and the name of the vaccine in question. I’ve read elsewhere that there are ingredients that are NOT listed in these inserts because they are considered “proprietary,” but you can find out about thimerasol, fromaldehyde, aluminum compounds, etc., as well as common–or rare– side effects, effectiveness for various populations, counterindications, etc. These are certainly not completely comprehensive, but they do show that the idea that all vaccines are universally “safe and effective” is disproven by the manufacturers themselves.

Dr Suzanne Humphries, author of Dissolving Illusions, has a clip on you tube which I can’t seem to access at the moment about a study involving measles outbreak in Croatia. It turns out that until recently they haven’t had the technology (nucleic acid testing) to differentiate between strains of viruses. Well, they do know. What they discovered is that children who developed measles were vaccinated. The test confirmed that they were infected with the vaccine strain of measles. It wasn’t some other disease, and it wasn’t a wild strain. Her work is definitely worth checking out.

Hi Heather, Good article. Just wanted to point out one error on the compensation program. The $250,000 limit is related to death. If the vaccine injured person survives the “benefit” can be larger and usually takes into account at least some of the expenses involved in long-term care of a seriously injured child or adult. However, many reports describe the program and somewhat hard-nosed about what they think is needed. There are also huge hurdles to get any benefit at all.

Thanks for writing this down in such a metered and rational way, because Im beyond rational at this point.

Im disappointed.

Im disappointed that I can educate people about the polio vaccine and sv-40, porcine viruses contaminating our rotavirus vaxes, chicken anemia viruses, mycoplasmas…

I can talk to people about epigenetics and why one child might be triggered by a vaccine while another isnt. I can talk about Single Nucleotide polymorphisms at CD46.

I can talk about excipients and adjuvants.. contaminants like molds and serratia.. vaccine manufacturers with horrible safety records….

The science for caution is there. All I want is for it to be transparent. All I want is for them to admit the real risks. But instead Im some fringe crazy, immediately lumped in with Jenny McCarthy. The froth is so high that because my opinion differs, because I dare to question.. Im demonized. Over the measles.. This is a real request, Ive searched and failed.. during this outbreak has there been any victims that have spoken out? I know nobody has died, but has anyone even had serious complications? Im not trying to minimize the complications that do occur, but right now people want to force vaccination and not a single person has died, so someone must have gotten more then inconvenienced by some spots and having to stay home for a week.

Mandatory vaccination is unamerican. And Im much too ashamed of my country to write as objective of a response as you did. So, I thank you.

I’ve been wondering that too. Have we heard from any of the people who have come down with measles in the recent outbreak(s)? I’ve neither seen nor heard of any interviews with those directly affected. No parents of unvaccinated children who are relieved that their child has now gotten over it and is immune for life, no parents of vaccinated children livid because the vaccine obviously didn’t protect their child, no adults who were themselves infected, and how they are reacting… nothing!

Regardless of whether someone is pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, my concern is that people’s rights to parent their children are being ripped away from them. Being told to have their children jabbed with something they honestly believe is not good for them, is horrendous. It’s like communism sneaking into free countries. Very scary.

The most distressing thing for me when we discuss vaccines is not the information I discover, or whether people agree or disagree with my thoughts. It’s the way so many people who are doing what they feel is best for their children attack each other in the comments. Vaccine discussions bring out the worst in people and that is what really upsets me. It’s like so many people lose the ability to show empathy, respect and kindness towards each other when they’re discussing what they want to do out of love for their children. I think you’ve done well to prevent this because your writing is so objective and respectful that people differ in their opinions, so thank you.

I am just glad my kids are past the school age…not because I am scared of the shots but I am scared about kids being forced to go to school with kids that have not had there shots. I respect your right to not get the shots but what about the child sitting next to them….do they get a say in whether or not they get sick because your child has not had there shots.

Just out of curiosity, if the vaccinated child beside an unvaccinated child gets sick, why is the onus on the unvaccinated child? If vaccines worked as they are touted to, the vaccinated child would be protected and would not get sick at all, correct?

Nobody really cares tho, they gloss over these studies and swear all the vaccine research has deemed there is no connection and they are safe.

Nobody can even talk to me about CD46, and how Single Nucleotide polymorphisms on that gene can cause no immunity when you get a measles vaccination, OR inversely AUTOIMMUNITY. Nobody wants to touch the contamination issues, they just keep spouting that it is all safe even though the vaccine has killed more children then the virus.

IT MAKES NO SENSE.

And then people come and find your post and tell you your are irresponsible? What is irresponsponsible is sacrificing the few in the society for the many. What is irresponsible is pretending to know something just because it is the official stance on it.

Ive went round and round with people on this and in the end… you know what deep down inside the ones who want vaccines at all costs really feel? They dont give a damn about your “special snowflake”.. so what if you do have genetics that make you more susceptible, so what? step in line and follow the herd.. or you are weird or stupid or uniformed, or reckless, or whatever.

The truth is trickling out. BUT ALL OF YOU MANDATORY VAXXERS are just pawns in taking away our freedoms. Over the measles. Congratulations. When they admit our vaccines are contaminated with something worse then SV-40 you can all just shut your mouths and eat your cancer sandwiches like good little boys and girls. But if you people want to talk science, lets start talking science.

Even if measles do not lead to death, it can cause permanent damage to the babies. Have you seen the Amazon reviews for Melanie’s Marvellous Infections, the anti-vaccination picture book written to “educate children on the benefits of having measles”? “My infant daughter went blind after contracting measles from an unvaccinated child,” wrote one reviewer. “And yet there’s no braille version of this wonderful book for me to give her someday to explain to her how awesome the disease that took her sight away is.” If it happens to your child because of somebody else’s unvaccinated child, it probably changes your perspective on vaccines.

I was just discussing this with the only other non vaccine family I know and we are so sick of being demonized for our informed decision not to inject poison into our babies pure little bodies. I’m inundated with pure hate from people who do vaccinate their children on my newsfeed. (Not personally towards me) but I don’t understand why they are so hateful towards people who don’t vaccinate since they are so sure their vaccines will work.

It should not be mandatory. It is against human rights and on the other hand in case the powerful capitalists change their intentions and pollute this vaccine(if it was ever unpolluted) to cause diseases for so many “reasons”(e.g. to kill people to control population, to sell their drugs for the diseases caused by vaccination, to maximize their profits etc) we will be helpless. If these vaccinate supporting people are so serious and have sympathy with people then why don’t they ban smoking which for sure causes diseases: simple; because smoking is pro(their)-revenue 🙂 so when it comes to profit making you can do anything, either you can let people smoke and drink or you can make taking polluted vaccine mandatory. please don’t love us so much and let us take our care ourselves. no mandatory vaccine.

I am not sure why everybody is obsessed with the vaccinations. They do work even if some people (a tiny fraction of millions of people vaccinated) experience the side effects. The side effects are unavoidable and are usually still better than experiencing such crippling diseases as polio. Some people have side effects from seemingly completely healthy things such as organic lettuce which can cause severe abdominal cramps in sensitive people. Ditto with vaccines, some people can have side effects. For those who do not know anything about polio, you do not know anything about polio because vaccines eradicated it. Research some of the crippling effects of polio to see what it did to people (iron lung anybody?). As for the mandatory aspect of vaccination, why isn’t anybody complaining about seat belts? Seat belts are mandatory. Where is the outrage? Maybe it is because they they save lives? We don’t see the outrage of freedom defenders about mandatory seat belt laws. Seat belts save millions of lives every year even though sometimes they cause death (for example if a car is rolling over, having a seatbelt on can lead to a severe injury or death- something similar to side effects some people can experience receiving vaccines). But in the other 99% of the cases, seatbelts (and vaccines) save lives (or eradicate crippling diseases). Maybe we should let common sense win if we do not want to have our children go back to iron lungs or die in minor car accidents.

Nobody is complaining about seatbelts because there is no risk of injury or death from the act of fastening a seatbelt across your body. However, there is a real risk of injury or death from the act of injecting cocktails of vaccines against 8 diseases* (at 2 months) up to 13 diseases** (at 15 months) at ONE time into infants and babies. In short, your analogy doesn’t work. Vaccines and seatbelts are incomparable.

Thank you for being brave enough to write all you have so beautifully Heather. Its so comforting to know you feel exactly the same as i do along with millions of others. And surprise surprise – we are all well educated, intelligent, informed and wise magical mummies. Plus we are open to new ideas and the ability to research these ideas as we see fit. Cant you go get yourself a place next to your president please. We really need someone like you who’s so well written and composed to speak on behalf of all who believe in our children’s best interest xx

Oh and even though one lady has written that mandatory vaccination is un-American – thats true -yet don’t forget the world will follow your suit – down here in Australia we sadly would be next – please no – our freedom is way to valuable xx

Thank you so much for the articles. I really need support right now because in my country, vaccines is mandatory and everyone who knows that I’m not let my baby to take vaccines said that I’m not a good mother. How dare them! I wish I could explain this to them, but they won’t listen. Well, they can’t blame me any further because my baby is very healthy and cheerful even without those vaccines.

Love, love this! If it is to be mandatory then it surely should be mandatory for the manufacturers and the people who vote for the mandate to vaccinate themselves and their children. I wonder how many don’t? If they wont then there really must be something wrong.

Also, if it is made mandatory how about they make them safe? And how about they are held accountable for the damage it does to some people?

Hi Heather, You do such a great job presenting information. Could you share what you know about homeoprophylaxis as an alternative to vaccinating? I’m surprised it does not come up more often in the debate.

We followed along the vaccination conveyor belt when our children were young and then spent countless time, money and worry trying to repair our daughter’s health from those vaccinations. Western medicine was no help and we didn’t waste our time filing a claim with any government agency. So now she’s about to turn 11 and supposed to get boosters. After extensive research into options, our whole family is completing the homeoprophylaxis program. This website has more information on it: http://freeandhealthychildren.com/

I’ve been debating fanatics of vaccines for years but your clarity of mind has left me speechless. Excellent analysis, very thorough and at the same time accessible to people unfamiliar with medical jargon.

No, they should NOT be Mandatory! The decision should be at the discretion of the parent. Where does this end after forced Vaccinations? What’s next? Forced public schooling? We are the parents, these are our babies! My children do not belong to the Government, they belong to me!! I love the above comment…My Children/My choice/End of story!!

Unfortunately the situation is more complex than just “my children/my choice”. We live in a public sphere and interact with other people. What would you do if you were the following person: your baby girl has slightly compromised immunity so she cannot be vaccinated. The baby girl goes to a day care with many other children and imagine that one child, who is not vaccinated, brings the virus of a crippling disease, say, polio to the day care. Because your baby girl cannot be vaccinated, she contracts the polio virus from the unvaccinated child. Your baby girl becomes disfigured and disabled for the rest of her life. What would you say to the parents of the unvaccinated child who brought the virus to the daycare center?

Very interesting response, considering I have a child that cannot receive certain vaccinations! I appreciate your comment for making me think, however I unfortunately cannot live my life in hypothetical situations! I have seen the negative effects of vaccinations first hand, and in my opinion the negative outweighs the risk! But…to answer your question..I would pray for patience and understanding! I certainly would NOT condemn the parents of the ill child the same way I wouldn’t want anyone to condemn my child!

Fair point but we mostly deal with what-ifs. Until anything happens to you or your child, it is a hypothetical situation. My work colleague’s daughter, who has compromised immunity and could not be vaccinated, contracted measles and went deaf. For her, the situation was no longer hypothetical. And, unfortunately, praying for her or her parents will not bring back her hearing. I am also curious- you mentioned in your previous post that you “…have seen the negative effects of vaccinations first hand.” Can I ask where you sae them and how you determined that these side effects did come from the vaccines? Correlation is not causation so I am curious to know how you determined that the side effects you saw were indeed caused by vaccines? Thanks!

The problem is that those of you who think we should force vaccinations on people are under the mistaken illusion that we can control the pathogen.

We can’t.. and nobody is responsible for a pathogen. Unvaccinated or not.

This is a control issue and you cannot control everyone. If you have an immune compromised child that is very scary, but vaccines are nothing but the illusion of control at a price that is becoming increasingly unacceptable as 1 in 68 children are on the spectrum and our adults are chronically ill. Read the total load theory and know that vaccine can be a trigger. EVERYONE deserves the free will to make that risk and to figure out the calculation to oneself. I can control what is injected into me and I dont want the things that the government has brewed up. Id rather have the measles. And demonize me all you want for saying that but until you watch a normal child get their MMR and descend into a crying head banging mess within 24 hours and no amount of time fixes it.. when MMR causes febrile seizures and we are told that is just a “normal” reaction and not particularly concerning…. well, Ill take the measles and say THANK GOD for antibiotics to treat any complications. But you guys can keep your current vaccines, thanks!

Lucas – I understand your concern but in fact, an unvaccinated child is not ‘carrying’ the virus around with him/her. If infected with the virus he/she will have symptoms and presumably be kept at home. The much more dangerous situation for the immunocompromised child is coming in contact with recently vaccinated children who do carry the virus and can shed it for up to 2 weeks or in some cases even more : there is plenty of research to show this.

And this – ‘A recent study, based on the 2011 outbreak of measles in New York City, has clearly documented that a twice-vaccinated person (an adult) can transmit measles to other twice-vaccinated individuals.’ [xiii]Rosen JB et al. “Outbreak of measles among persons with prior evidence of immunity, New York City, 2011.” Clin Infect Dis (2014).

Also, hospitals caution against visiting vulnerable patients with recently vaccinated children – one example in the US: John Hopkins Hospital’s advice to those taking care of immunocompromised patients at home is: #Tell friends and family who are sick or have recently had a live vaccine (such as chicken pox, measles, rubella, intranasal influenza, polio or smallpox) not to visit. # It may be a good idea to have visitors call first. # Avoid contact with children who were recently vaccinated.

Thank you for this article! I have read all stories mentioned in your article in different websites. My 2 months old son after getting his vaccines had a very bad reaction- after some time his legs turned bright red and he screemed for hours, it happened 4 times in a month. All doctors said its not because of vaccines, 3 doctors said “I don’t know what was it.” I will not vaccinate my son ever. I will do medical and philosophical vaccine exemption.

Heather, thank you for this information! I have a couple of genuine questions about the measles “outbreak” and wasn’t sure where else to post them. If the MMR can shed for weeks after being administered, and the vaccination rates being what they are, shouldn’t we be seeing way MORE cases of measles? Also, the MMR carries Measles, Mumps and Rubella, with vaccine shedding should we also be seeing outbreaks of mumps and rubella as well? My other question: I’m pregnant. Should I be concerned about my child catching the measles? Is there anything I can do to protect my unborn baby, in case I were to be around someone with measles? Thank you in advance for your response!

Liability protection for vaccine manufacturers is good public policy. There is little financial incentive to make and sell vaccines. More money can be made by selling drugs to chronically sick patients (i.e. repeat customers). A flu shot cost $10. Tamiflu course of treatment is $100, and only shortens symptom duration by less than 24hrs. In addition, the government sets aside compensations for legitimate harms due to vaccines, eliminating any unnecessary coutroom drama. The big pharmacy conspiracy, yes they are perchance for profit like most businesses, just does not fly.

Jian, you are entitled to any opinion you have for or against vaccinating children, but you might want to do the math on this one; flu shot may only cost $10 but multiply that by millions because it is pushed on everyone entering a Walgreen’s store and now available at nearly every grocery and drug store in the U.S., and you have enormous profits. Remember when the stock market crashed in 2008 and drug companies were seeing dismal bottom lines? Well, didn’t Swine Flu just come in so handy and a vaccine right on its tail. We really must do the work of investigating bigPharma as you call it, and as long as there is medicine for profit in countries like the US, you cannot stop being vigilant and suspicious.

Yes, there will be side effects for some but, all and all, vaccines simply eradicate diseases without harm to the body. Have you heard of anybody being crippled by polio? No, because vaccines eradicated it. Based on the information from various double blind placebo studies at many universities worldwide, vaccination is proven to reduce the incidence of diphtheria and smallpox by 100 percent, and measles by more than 99 percent. If I told you a set of lotto numbers had a 99 percent probability of winning, what would you do? Yet a shocking percentage of people are betting against the probability of vaccinations preventing contagious diseases.

“Do you receive gifts from the company whose medicine you just prescribed for my child?”

Really? I can guarantee you that the doctors that recommend and administer vaccines are not getting any kick backs or gifts, and to even ask this is accusing them of being unethical and insulting. Most often, they break even or actually lose money on the shot reimbursements, but they continue to do it because they truly believe it is important for your child’s health. The doctors that are paid by the drug companies are not usually not practicing physicians, but researchers, and they make up such a small statistic of doctors. Also, years ago, gifts to doctors and practices from drug manufacturers and reps was banned in the US. It doesn’t happen.

I work in a pediatric’s office and you are correct, we do lose money from vaccinating our patients. We only have one insurance company (out of the 9 that we take) who pay for the vaccination itself, and they only actually pay 15% of the cost (except for HPV/Gardasil, all of them pay for that but still a weak 30% of the actual cost on the fee schedule). We do however get reimbursed for the vaccine administration itself, but it’s nothing like you would think. One of the insurance companies that we take only pays $0.76 per administration. YES these are contracted rates and YES we see an awful lot of patients, but regardless of that people do not realize the loss that a physician’s office takes in order to provide their patients with access to free vaccines (especially a small, physician owned practice). And NO, our physicians do not get any “gifts”; the closest things to gifts that we get are formula and diaper cream samples that go directly to patients. People who think that physicians offices’ make bank don’t go into enough depth to truly understand what they do to stay afloat, pay their employees, and still provide excellent service. My point is that I agree with you and although I may have dragged this on I just think it’s absurd that people ACTUALLY believe that we get “gifts” or make figures off of vaccinating. Like, what ??

As a point of clarification, I suggested that parents ask “Do you receive gifts from the company whose medicine you just prescribed for my child?” with respect to all medicines, not just vaccines. Contrary to your statement that gifts to doctors have been banned in the U.S., it is well-documented that doctors have often received extravagant gifts. Here are some resources on that subject:

Is there a conflict of interest for family physicians when it comes to vaccines? It’s hard to say. Is it possible that physicians emphasize vaccines because too many of their patients opt-out their malpractice goes up? Perhaps. Is it possible that they are taking a financial loss on the vaccines, but profiting in some sense because more children come in for well-visits (which they are compensated for) to receive them? Perhaps. Is it possible that many doctors offer vaccines at a personal loss simply because they want to do what they feel is best for their patients? Absolutely.

My concern with conflicts of interest do not rest solely with family physicians. My concern is that many of the doctors we see in the media have strong ties to pharmaceutical companies that studies show may influence their professional recommendations. Dr. Paul Offit, who is considered “one of the most trusted voices in vaccine safety,”holds in a $1.5 million dollar research chair at Children’s Hospital, funded by Merck. He holds the patent on an anti-diarrhea vaccine he developed with Merck, Rotateq, which has prevented thousands of hospitalizations.

And future royalties for the vaccine were just sold for $182 million cash. Dr. Offit’s share of vaccine profits? Unknown.”

Contrary to statements made by some that vaccines are not profitable for manufacturers, there seems to be evidence to suggest that it is worthwhile for them. Vaccine manufacturers hire lobbyists to help influence political policymaking. If there is no profit motive for pharmaceutical companies, why do they spend so much money on lobbyists? Though it is theoretically plausible that it is because they are concerned about the public good, that theory seems inconsistent with claims from Merck’s own scientists that the company manipulated testing methodology and falsified data regarding their mumps vaccine. (source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22420796 and http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lawrence-solomon/merck-whistleblowers_b_5881914.html)

Are all family physicians compromised in terms of conflict-of-interest? Of course not. Some may be, but I’m certain there are many that are not. However, as I mentioned in the post both their education and the public conversation surrounding vaccine safety are strongly influenced by high-profile experts with financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.

I simply think we can do better than that, and so does a panel from the Institute of Medicine, which urged doctors to stop taking gifts from pharmaceutical companies. We need voices that are truly independent in this conversation if trust is going to be fostered on all sides of the issue.

My stance… Only judge me once you have walked down the same dark scary path we have walked after a vaccine injury. Until you see your child slipping away from you day after day, you will not know what we have all gone through. Even through the darkness, so many of us have put in the hard work and done the research. We’ve made life changing choices and are recovering our children. Now we face judgement from others for protecting our children from what we know with all of our hearts has hurt them in the first place. How do you think we got here? We followed the ridiculous , “one size fits all” aggressive vaccine schedule and now have to live in the after math of its devastation. We are left in the dark trying to put back the pieces of our lives while moving in a forward direction and doing what’s best for our children. Our children that are now immune compromised and suffer from a ripple effect of other health issues. What bothers me is how people can really think that all of us parents can make any other choice but not vaccinate after something like this happens to our children. Do you really think I don’t want my child protected from these diseases too??? I would LOVE nothing more then to be able to sleep soundly at night knowing my child isn’t at risk during times of outbreak like we are experiencing now. I would LOVE to not have that anxiety looming over me day in and day out… But that luxury was stolen from me after my son suffered a severe reaction to his 6th month vaccines and I had to witness him slip away further and further into the black hole that Autism is. Until one day, a year and a half later, I said enough is enough and took the first step forward. We have been fighting in this up hill battle ever since and each day now we overcome so much. I believe vaccines are an important component to this world we live in… but I also know now that not all children can tolerate them the same. We need a less aggressive schedule and some form of screening process to determine the health of our children before we give them something in an injection form that their body might not be capable of supporting. The only way anything will ever change is if we all stand united. We all are fighting for the same things…The safety of our children. We should be supporting each other and working towards making sure all of our children’s best interests come first, not money or the drug company’s ” bottom lines”.

You know where there’s such a low risk of getting measles? Because everyone around you is VACCINATED. Without vaccination, measles has a 90% infection rate. The vaccine is 95% effective after 1 dose and 99% effective after 2 doses. The death rate from measles is 1-1.5 per 500 cases. Per the CDC, severe allergic reaction to MMR occurs less than 1 in a million doses.

Pertussis is another one that is coming back. 1 in 200 babies that catches whooping cough will die. Again per the CDC, severe allergic reaction to DTaP occurs less than 1 in a million doses.

Can vaccines cause injury or death? Yes, but the risk is incredibly small, and nothing in life is zero risk. Your risk of injury or death after catching a vaccine-preventable disease is much much higher.

Vaccines do not cause autism. The newest autism studies say kids are born with autism, there are differences in the formation of their brains. And hypothetically if there was a small risk of autism, I’d rather my kids be autistic than dead.

I’m pretty “crunchy”. We eat mostly paleo/primal, we cloth diaper, use natural cleaning products, etc.. I do everything I can to keep my family healthy, including vaccinating them!

Should it be a personal decision to vaccinate? Ok, but keep your kids home then. No vaccines should mean no public school (medical exemptions allowed, of course).

Adjective, With all due respect, as someone who has Chronic Lyme Disease I have learned that you cannot trust the CDC and their “statistics.” Who knows what the truth really is? I think we can all agree to disagree, but saying you would hypothetically rather your child have “this” than “that” when you haven’t personally experienced seeing your child suffer from vaccines is unfair. I compare it to someone who is pro-gun (for sport, hunting, etc.) and has no heart for the parent who is anti-gun because they lost their child to gun violence. Just something to think about.

That’s a 2-way street. What about the parents who lose their children to vaccine-preventable illnesses? That’s unfair too, and is hugely more likely than getting injured/killed by vaccines. Do anti-vaxxer have “no heart” for those children and grieving parents?

That’s exactly my point. We should respect that we all have personal reasons for making the decisions we do. Each one of us is trying to do what is best for our children, and none of us know what the absolute facts and truth are. My heart goes out to parents of children with cancer, and other illnesses, who can’t get vaccinated. But let’s think about that…if vaccines are “safe,” then anyone, in any state of health, should be able to tolerate them. Underlying illnesses, weak immune systems, and genetic mutations (like MTHFR) aren’t always identified/diagnosable, and that is where the danger is. Not all children/people can handle the viruses/illnesses/toxic ingredients in vaccines. There needs to be real change when it comes to vaccine safety, and until there is, no parent should be forced to have their children vaccinated.

Thank-you for this excellent essay Heather. The main comment I want to make is that you greatly exaggerate the potential of someone dying from measles. While the CDC claims the death rate from measles is 1-2 per 1000, the real death rate appears to be one-tenth of that, or 0.015%. See http://vaxtruth.org/2012/01/measles-perspective/ for details on this. There is good science to suggest that administering Vitamin A and Vitamin C would reduce this death rate even further- see http://thinktwice.com/measles.htm Homeopathy can also be effective in treating measles.

Aloha! Mahalo, thank you for this article! It is a relief to know their are others who are just as concerned as we are. We live in Hawai’i and it can be tricky sometimes when it comes to vaccines. People kinda make us feel like we are being paranoid and our government wouldn’t do such things- well, better to be safe than sorry, right? Thanks again!

I can see that you’ve gotten quite a response already, but I just had to tell you what a great article this was. Well written, rational, and beautifully put. Whether you agree that vaccines are effective or not, it should be your choice what you do with your body and what happens to your children.

What a fantastic article, Heather. Because, as you say, it boils down to choice, not “to vax or not to vax”. I wrote a similar article on the measles outbreak, including why measles can actually be helpful for a body. http://www.atavistlife.com/?p=780 Ultimately, though, I respect other people’s choice to vaccinate (or not) their families. Thank you for all you do, Heather!

If you pay attention to what John Oliver is saying, he keeps using the term “prescription” drugs. That means medicines given to treat a chronic (ongoing) condition. Usually daily, sometimes several times a day. Either way, the patient will be taking the drug over a long period of time. Most often the advertisements are for new mediations which have just come onto the retail market, drugs that are not yet available in cheap, generic forms. So, the drug company stands to make a LOT of money from each new patient that gets prescribed this drug. That same case does not apply to vaccines. You get one, maybe two shots of a particular vaccine, and you’re done for a lifetime. So, vaccines aren’t the cash cow that something like viagra is. In fact, the only vaccine I remember seeing an ad for is the HPV virus. A new vaccine, not well known. I do remember seeing some flu shot ads, but those ads were not by the vaccine maker, but instead by the drug store that is fighting for your flu shot business, encouraging you to come in and get your shot there instead of somewhere else. Look at this list of 67 recent prescription drugs advertised and the HPV virus is the only vaccine on the list. http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/medicine/prescription-drug-tv-ads.htm The top ten drug “buys” in terms of advertising? Not vaccines. See http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/top-10-drug-advertising-spends-q1-2012

I must say that I am disappointed after reading this blog post. The very first thing you did was ensure the reader that this post is “not about whether or not you should vaccinate”, and the very next thing you did was go against that. This is obviously extremely biased, which is fine I mean whatever, we ALL have our own opinions that we have the right to voice. But, if you want to be an honest and not-so-annoying blogger, you need to consider what you say to ensure what your posts are or are not about, etc. On another note, you have cited zero resources and you have mentioned an outrageous number of invalid “facts” (ie. claiming we are forced to vaccinate, which is only one of many things you’ve said that is very untrue). I’m sure you have both pro- and anti- vaccine moms that follow your blog, and I can’t imagine how many pro-vaccine moms’ this post has made uncomfortable. I myself am an ANTI-vaccine mom, and can’t believe how bad I feel for fellow MOMS who have followed your site and read this but have different beliefs. I am not trying to attack in ANY way, but I think that you believe so strongly in this subject that you are not realizing how many readers will perceive this. I’ve been a big fan of your posts and your TASTY recipes (actually surprised I haven’t came across this until now), so I’m feeling pretty disappointed that I won’t be following your blog anymore. You totally mislead the reader here and have quite frankly proved yourself to be (for lack of a better word) distrustful (not to mention your subtle yet snarky “thoughts” on the subject that you’ve weaved into your content). Once again, it has nothing to do with any opinions on the subject itself, but rather on the lack of taste you’ve demonstrated as an author. 🙁

Hi Heather! thank you for the this article. My husband came across your blog and we are planning to follow it. We will start the GAPS diet too and I am giving a though about homeschooling as well. About the article you wrote, l also agree that we should have the right to decide and that vaccinations should not be mandatory. Seatbelts are mandatory but they do not imply getting chemical substances introduced in our body (somebody mentioned seatbelts). I don’t think this article is “socially irresponsible” as somebody mentioned, on the contrary. Health authorities should not estimate the intelligence and capability of parents (regardless of their education, whether or not they have PhD’s or other credentials) to do their own research and create awareness. I do believe we should hear both sides and make our own decisions. I am reposting what I wrote before cause it seemed it appeared in another thread , like a reply to somebody else’s comment rather than as a general opinion from your article (please feel free to erase the other one, I don’t know how to do it) I am a physician (former epidemiologist, I worked in the Public Health system) and a mom and I feel the same way as Suzanne Humphries MD. Physicians are not really told about everything in regards of vaccines and they are told to follow health authorities guidelines. I haven’t read Suzanne Humphries book but I am planning to read it. I recommend the book “What your doctor may not tell you about Children’s Vaccinations” by Stephanie Cave MD. Besides these two real doctors there are other real doctors (and I am saying “real” cause I just saw this video from the comedian Jimmy Kimmil making fun of parents that choose not vaccinate their children) that think different about the use of vaccinations. Medical doctors that take some time in their busy lives to do their own research. As parents we should do the same and just not believe blindly to the health authorities. Here is a video that will explain that actually the vaccinated (yes the vaccinated) people could actually be more the risk to the “herd” than the unvaccinated people. It is a lecture on vaccines and health by Dr. Suzanne Humphries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFQQOv-Oi6U (First part but you can make the follow up of the next videos in youtube). So sad, that when a medical doctor thinks different than the majority and dare to “challenge” the health authorities he/she is considered a “quack”. The truth is not always taken easily. Remember that some years ago, they wouldn’t think that smoking was a cause of cancer, and yet there are still so many things that we don’t really know. It is also a good point these one that others have mentioned: If they are so sure about the efficacy of the vaccines why are they afraid of being exposed to the unvaccinated persons? I also highly recommend this other video that talks about, food, GMO and vaccines. http://www.boughtmovie.net/free-viewing/ .

Those of us who are (often strongly) in favor of mandatory vaccinations aren’t neccesarily judging anyone as much as we are protecting our children. I could care less if the pharmaceutical company makes a profit. If it keeps children from getting diseases such as polio, measles, mumps, etc. I’m all for it. This generation has not experienced these diseases. Had many of you seen your friends outside playing one day, bedridden the next & then eventually with a permanent limp or handicap from polio, you wouldn’t be so quick to worry about “the government telling you what to do”. My husband got chicken pox at age 35. It was a very serious illness at that age. Had a vaccine been available, he wouldn’t have been so sick. I know I don’t want my child exposed to these diseases or children who haven’t been vaccinated. So, perhaps at the very least if someone refused to vaccinate their children, they shouldn’t be permitted to attend public (or private) schools & would have to be home schooled. I guess my main point is that this isn’t a mattr of judging anyone. It’s a matter of safety.

Just want to express my gratitude for your public stance. It will take all of our voices for the establishment to hear the truth. It is a big challenge that many well-intentioned parents and physicians are simply not in awareness of the corruption of CDC by pharmaceutical companies and their lobbies. http://www.boughtmovie.com is a great place to start.

Hi Heather – thanks so much for addressing this. I am in the process of writing to my state representatives to express my opposition to HB 687 which aims to repeal the religious exemption here in Maryland (we already do not have a philosophical exemption available). This will be my first time officially “sticking my neck out there” with regard to this issue, so I am feeling a bit apprehensive. I wonder if you would be willing to read my letter and let me know if you have any feedback? If so, what would be the best way to send it to you? Thanks!

I am also very pleased that you braved these waters and stated the truth. As a young adult I had a near death reaction to the MMR vaccine, and I feel lucky that I recovered completely. Ever since that I have been a skeptic with my own children and the pushed vaccine “schedules” we as parents are supposed to follow. If our rights are taken away, I wouldn’t have the right to use discretion in my own children’s medical decisions, even though I know first hand what it is like to be feeling temporarily maimed by a vaccine. In general I feel like the American public is naive about the human body, nutrition, and the medical politics that really run our healthcare system. If more people truly knew the above info I think we’d question things more and possibly create a much needed change. I am very grateful to you for writing this!!!!

Thank you so much for researching and publishing this article. My daughter, in spite of previously being in favor of vaccinations, feels that there is evidence that my granddaughter’s apraxia (a neurological disorder in which a child’s ability to speak is impaired) was related to a vaccine, even though she was careful to research the safest vaccines. Luckily, my granddaughter totally recovered with a combination of nutritional therapy (very high doses of EFAs, or Essential Fatty Acids, and Vitamin E, overseen by a nutritionist), as well as speech therapy and NAET, or Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination technique, which can, as the name implies, eliminate allergies and food sensitivities. I asked her, after my granddaughter recovered, if she thought there was a possibility of misdiagnosis, and she said absolutely not; of the several markers for the disorder, my granddaughter had virtually all of them. But when she was retested the spring after her diagnosis in the fall, she tested in the 80-something percentile for expressive speech, and well above the 90th percentile for receptive speech–and that’s among all normal children. So even neurological disorders CAN be overcome, with enough work, research, and dedication. But it should never have happened in the first place. Since that time my daughter has been very wary of vaccinations; she has not had her daughter vaccinated since. It has been a long road, but we have learned a lot, and I so appreciate your courage and tenacity in getting the word out.

I’m sorry to hear that you would discontinue reading a blog due to a difference of opinion, when the blog itself contains excellent research and information. I myself differ 180 degrees from some of my closest friends in political opinion, but we are still very good friends. A democracy is predicated on the free exchange of ideas and opinions.

Way to go on that comment!!! In Europe conversations like this happen all the time around the dinner table and no one takes offence. That is what discussions are for to hear different oppinions. I would like to mention that I used to run a day care and I babysat a lot of kids that had reactions to vaccines. Which caused lots of behaviour problems in those kids. Interesting after the fact was that no one wanted to babysit them because they were then labeled problem children. To me that is the crime!!! The child is not at fault. Decisions that are made to pushed on parents is the problem and then the child and parents suffer. I actually babysat a child that had all his vaccines and because of his extreme allergies was tested for those vaccines and not one was in his system because his body had rejected them due to the allergies. So many parents are not aware of that fact!!!! You ask a pediactric doctor about that and they will confess that that is true.

Excellent info! Thank you for braving these waters and supporting parental rights and informed consent. No one should ever be forced to submit to a medical treatment, procedure, or vaccine/drug against their will. If we lose even one right in that regard, we’ll lose them all.

The doctor that linked autism to vaccines lost his medical license shortly after. Not to mention that his theory was proved wrong 2 weeks after it was released and was proven wrong again dozens of times after that. Even gluten and depression are more liked to autism than vaccines. The two things are simply just not related. Please stop misinforming people about vaccines.

I hope you know the reason your children don’t get sick with stuff like measles and small pox is because other people’s children are vaccinated. I wish I could believe you are truly ignorant about vaccines, but someone that seems as educated as you just can’t be. You’re living in a bubble about this subject. Don’t limit your research to the things you want to read.

Media Coverage of the Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autism Controversy and Its Relationship to MMR Immunization Rates in the United States Michael J. Smith, Susan S. Ellenberg, Louis M. Bell, and David M. Rubin Pediatrics April 2008; 121:4 e836-e843; doi:10.1542/peds.2007-1760

Why does everyone treat autism like it’s such a tragedy? It’s just a different wiring of the brain – it’s not inferior or superior, it just means it comes with different challenges which are not adequately met in most of our society – because that society is geared towards neurotypical needs. But the world needs autistic minds just as much as neurotypical minds. We need different ways of thinking.

I am autistic. I was born autistic. You wouldn’t believe the decades of self-loathing I have had to undo (and am still undoing) from articles that thoughtlessly talk about “risk” or “prevention” of autism, and labelling it as “damage” or “debilitation”. All of this is effectively saying that the goal is to make people like me no longer exist in future generations, not to actually make our lives better. That my way of seeing the world is somehow inherently “wrong”. Children internalise this stuff – and it’s causing far greater levels of harm to their mental wellbeing than their autism ever did.

It’s not OK to talk about preventing or eliminating autism. We are not damaged or diseased – we’re different, and we have different needs. Don’t try and change us – help us change the world so it understands and accommodates autistic minds!

Beyond any scientific debate of the pros and cons of vaccines, in a free country, coerced medical procedures have no place at all. (Those horrors belong in the past of nazi Germany.) It doesn’t matter what the science behind vaccines is, to be honest. Human Rights and Informed Consent trump all that ! Vaccines are at best a personal strategy for disease protection. If you want the limited protection they offer, despite the possible adverse reactions, that is and should be, your choice. But for Authorities to try to force that particular choice and point of view on everyone, is, by definition, totalitarian and violates basic medical ethics and human rights. “Where there is a risk, there must be a choice.” Even if *there were no risks* (which of course there are) it would still be a violation of medical ethics and human rights to force or coerce a medical procedure on anyone.

Alex, Agreed, just as I should be allowed to vaccinate my child, you should be allowed not to. As long as you (and other parents who choose not to vaccinate and to possibly expose other children to serious diseases) are willing to keep your child away from schools and other public places. Since they could expose other children to often contagious and dangerous diseases, it seems fair and could avoid an outbreak.

Text: “www.cancer.gov 31 ■ ■ Stay away from people who are sick. This includes people with colds, flu, measles, or chicken pox. You also need to stay away from children who just had a “live virus” vaccine for chicken pox or polio. Call your doctor, nurse, or local health department if you have any questions”

“Tell friends and family who are sick, or have recently had a live vaccine (such as chicken pox, measles, rubella, intranasal influenza, polio or smallpox ) not to visit. • It may be a good idea to have visitors call first. • Avoid contact with children who were recently vaccinated”

For some reason they removed this text about vaccinated around the time of the Disneyland extravaganza.

For me it shows the depths to which big pharma has on people lives have no regard for human life.

I was really enjoying your website until I came across this post. I think you should leave the medical research and advice to professionals and just stick to the fluffy stuff; coconut soap and parsnip fries.

Just because you’re not a professional doesn’t mean you aren’t trying to look out for your kid’s safety. Shouldn’t she be able to share what she has learned with others? I mean, if she thinks this is good to know and that parents should know this, what’s wrong with sharing it? Just because she’s not a professional doesn’t mean she shouldn’t talk about this.

This is very well written. I appreciate the time and effort to put these resources together. I couldn’t have said it better myself! Thank you for being brave and putting it out there. This is wonderful!

Hi Heather! I was looking for an article you wrote awhile back concerning Tetanus. Is it still available online for viewing? Thank you for all your thoughtful articles. They have been so helpful to me (and my family) over the years. Absolutely love your tooth powder recipe!!

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